The Controversial Princess (The Smoke & Mirrors Duology #1)(96)



Watching as he takes a wide berth around the crowds, I register his sweats and a zip-up hoodie, and he has a baseball cap pulled low on his head too, the hood of his sweater pulled over it. He looks up, his phone to his ear, as he strides toward me. He’s tense, shoulders high, an effort to conceal his identity as best he can. “Can you see my face?” he asks down the line.

“Yes.”

“Good. Then you can see how fuckin’ mad I am with you.”

I shrink. “I’m sorry,” I say again, feeling so very remorseful. All this risk, to both of us, because I had a silly harebrained plan, a plan that has backfired on me in the most spectacular way. I’m an idiot. “The last twenty-four hours have been horrible. Polo yesterday, Eddie today. I just needed to see you,” I whisper.

“Well, now you can.” He reaches me and drops his phone to his side, looking up from under the peak of his cap as he pulls back the hood.

His face, no matter how cut it is with anger, sets off my emotions, and my lip wobbles uncontrollably. “It was a good idea at the time.” My voice breaks and the burn at the back of my eyes wins, turning into tears. There is no point holding them back now. The alleviation of anxiety is too much. So I cry. In the dirty doorway on a London street, tears stream down my cheeks. Because I didn’t look a big enough wreck already.

Josh sighs, reaching for my nape and tugging me into his welcoming warmth. “This doesn’t mean I’m not still mad with you,” he whispers, enveloping me in his arms. I cling to him, my body softening in his arms. Strangely, this is enough. His hug. Genuine affection, something I ordinarily live without. It should feel foreign to me—being engulfed in someone’s solid arms—but instead it calms me. I never knew what I’d been missing until now. Contact. Warmth over lust in a man’s touch. Everything is so much better.

“I don’t care what mood you’re in as long as you’re here.” I mean it, too. He could rant and rave at me for all I care. I would still be thankful I’m with him. My nose burrows into his neck and breathes him into me.

“Josh, we need to get moving,” Bates says, forcing Josh to break away. “Before you draw attention.”

At that exact moment, the sound of a shrill female screaming Josh’s name seems to bring the whole of London to a stop. “It’s him. Over there!”

“Fuck.” Josh quickly unzips his hoodie and shrugs it off. “Put this on.” He forces my arms into the sleeves and pulls the hood up over my cap. “Keep your head down, do you hear me?”

“What about you?”

“Head down, Adeline,” he whisper-hisses, rearranging the hood so it is nearly touching my lips. “They’ve seen me already. We need to make sure they don’t see you.” I let my head drop, feeling Josh’s arm curl around my shoulders, pulling me in. My whole body bunches forward, making myself as small as possible. “Walk.” His command is curt, and his body turns into mine as he guides me across the road, shielding me from the crowds as much as he can.

“Straight ahead,” one of his men says, his boots only a few feet in front of mine.

“We can’t let them see her, Bates,” Josh warns, pulling me in tighter, like he expects someone to try and pry me from his arms at any minute.

“Just keep her close. We’ll get you through.”

There are suddenly many more shoes in my downcast view as I’m huddled along, questions being fired relentlessly.

“Josh, who’s under the hoodie?”

“Is this the new girlfriend?”

“How are you finding London?”

“Can we get a smile, Josh?”

“Let us see who’s under the hood.”

My fear amplifies, and my head jars back, a result of someone behind yanking at the hood. “Get your fuckin’ hands off her,” Josh yells, shoving them away.

“So it’s a her, huh? Come on, Josh. Relieve everyone’s curiosity and give us a name.”

Josh’s pace increases, as does mine, flashes going off everywhere. A camera appears in my downcast vision, and I turn my face into my arm to try and hide. “Back off!” Josh smacks the camera away, and it crashes to the ground at my feet. “All of you, back the fuck off.”

I close my eyes briefly, my remorse returning tenfold. This will be tomorrow’s news. What have I done? Looks like I didn’t need my father to ruin this for us. I’ve done it myself. I’ve never been this stupidly irrational.

We break into a jog once free of the crowds, making it into the garage relatively unscathed. “Are you okay?” Josh asks, following his two men. I just nod, completely bewildered by the whole episode. Is this what it’s like for him all the time? This chaos? My encounters with the press and fans are generally calm situations, their respect high. That out there was crazy.

Josh waits until we are in the service elevator, the same elevator I used the last time I was here, before he slowly pushes my hood back, bringing me into the light. He examines my face as I stare at him with wide, stunned eyes. I have never experienced anything like it. That was unbelievable.

I’m not looking at Josh’s men, but I don’t need to see them to know they are displaying immense displeasure. I’ve caused a circus. My lips press together to try and stop another wobble of my lip.

“Well,” Josh starts, his face serious. “That was—”

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